In the Field

Some photos tell a story or, at the very least, leave you pondering about what happened before (or after) the image was shot. We found this Willow Ptarmigan because of the bright red patch of blood on the snow. If you look carefully you can see that there is blood on the lower leg of the bird as well. So, the source of the blood is the bird. But how was the bird injured? Was it badly hurt or just scratched? Did it survive? I have no idea what the answers to these questions are (although there was a Red Fox in the area and I suspect he may have had something to do with the injury), but in asking them the image (and the bird) becomes slightly more than a single instant in time.

The Willow Ptarmigan (Lagopus lagopus) is a small member of the pheasant family that is found across the tundra of North America. During the winter the Willow Ptarmigan is snowy white (as pictured above), but change their plumage to a brown mottled colour in the spring. While the species is generally common throughout its range, the population does cycle from abundant to scarce. The Willow Ptarmigan is currently harvested as a game bird.

The Yellowstone to Yukon (Y2Y) Conservation Initiative seeks to ensure that the world-renowned wilderness, wildlife, native plants, and natural processes of the Yellowstone to Yukon region continue to function as an interconnected web of life, capable of supporting all of its natural and human communities, for current and future generations.

*as determined by COSEWIC: The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada